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By NATION REPORTER

THE National Council for Construction (NCC) has issued a stop order against Alasia Building Construction Limited contracted by Lamasat International for the ongoing construction works at Carousel shopping centre in Lusaka.

Executive Director, Paul Makasa, said as a regulator in the construction industry, it is concerned with the rampant disregard for the provisions of the relevant laws governing construction in Zambia, which has led to loss of lives in some instances.

Professor Makasa said in view of this, NCC is enhancing measures to enforce provisions of the NCC Act No. 10 of 2020 and its subsidiary regulations.

“Yesterday (Thursday), a combined team from NCC and the Zambia Institute of Architects in a joint operation, visited ongoing construction works being undertaken at Carousel Shopping Centre in Lusaka and noted that the contractor was unregistered contrary to provisions of the NCC Act No. 10 of 2020. There were no provisions for ensuring the safety of workers.

The workers were not provided with personal protective equipment, the area was not barricaded to protect members of public considering it was a live site with ongoing business activities. There was no project billboard in place to indicate project information . There were no approved drawings from the local authority on site and works were not designed or being supervised by qualified persons from relevant bodies.

“We also wish to state that NCC monitoring and compliance specialists has earlier visited the site on  September 19,2023 and later issued a stop order on September 27,2023, which they have violated and continued to work with impunity. NCC has further fined the client a total of 500,000 penalty units (K150,000) for this offence,” he said.

Prof Makasa said, while on site the team was reliably informed that one supervisor had suffered an electrical accident and could not report for work.

“We also interviewed one person who was recovering from laceration on his left foot as a result of an accident on site,”Prof Makasa said.

He has warned all contractors that the honeymoon for rampant disregard for the rule of law in the construction sector is over.

Prof Makasa said NCC will continue to collaborate with professional bodies to ensure there is sanity in the construction sector.

He said NCC remains committed to improving the quality of infrastructure in support of national development and will not hesitate to revoke certificates of contractors found wanting.

“Contractors and members of the public are therefore urged to ensure that they comply with all necessary regulations,” he said.

By NATION REPORTER

THE Ministry of Education Chief Curriculum Specialist, Mr Jack Chishala, says government has accelerated efforts in promoting gender equality in the education sector and combating school related gender based violence.

Speaking during a panel discussion to mark the launch of UNESCO in Action for Gender Equality 2022-2023 report, on the sidelines of the 42nd Session of the general conference of UNESCO, Mr Chishala said government has developed a curriculum for pre-service teachers that integrates gender equality content.

In 2019, the government with UNESCO support embarked on a project to train teachers and educational staff in gender sensitive approaches.

Using an in-house curriculum program called connect with respect for 12 to 14-year-old learners, teachers were trained on how to prevent gender-based violence in schools.

Mr Chishala said the gender equality curriculum has been beneficial to the learners who are taught how to recognise, prevent and report different forms of violence in schools.

He further said government is working closely with UNESCO under the program dubbed “Our Lives, Our Rights, Our Future”whose focus is to address gender inequality, creating safe and supportive learning environments for all pupils as well as addressing gender biases and stereotypes in educational content and practices.

He stated that, the Ministry of Education is also working with the United Nations in Zambia to implement the Gender Equality and Women’s Participation Initiative (GEWPI) which is centred around the need to enhance existing gender strategies and programs towards a more integrated and strategic approach that responds to gender inequalities and emerging megatrends at global level.

Mr Chishala said under the GEWPI project, government with support from UNICEF is implementing intensified life skills and health education as well as child safeguarding programs in schools in Eastern Province.

By NATION REPORTER

THE Catholic Church has finally broken its silence and has raised alarm on a range of governance fears including the ever-shrinking democratic space, heightened LGBTQ agenda, the spirit of intolerance, attempts to exterminate opposition political parties, the impunity by Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti to brazenly breach the Constitution as well as the high cost of living.

The Catholic Church has also asked Chief Justice Mumba Malila to put his house in order by providing effective leadership to the Judiciary, which has fiercely come under scrutiny because of some of the political decisions made thus far.

The Catholic Church has also strongly chastised the UPND for sacrilegiously abusing Archbishop of Lusaka Diocese Dr Alick Banda whom the ruling party called the Lucifer of Zambia and that the governing party had never tendered an apology for the slur.  

In s strong-worded Pastoral Letter issued yesterday, the Zambia Conference for Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) have red-flagged emerging dictatorial tendencies in the new dawn administration and have called on President Hakainde Hichilema to endeavour to govern the country by the rule of law and not at the whims and caprices of man.

The Pastoral Letter which was signed by all the 12 Catholic Bishops was read by Rt Rev Charles Kasonde, the vice-president of the ZCCB.

In May this year, the ZCCB were supposed to issue a Pastoral Letter but before they could gather, they were summoned by President Hichilema and the Pastoral Letter never saw the light of day.

“Human rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are arbitrarily being trampled on, especially against those considered to hold dissenting political views or persons belonging to opposition political parties. On several occasions, the police have denied opposition parties the opportunity to assemble on grounds of lack of manpower and unspecified security reasons.”

There is also a growing tendency of selective application of the law and it has become tradition for the police to arrest members of the opposition political parties in a violent manner and keep them in detention longer than necessary and never take their cases to court. All these serve as examples of undemocratic practices that fall short of the respect for civil and political rights,” the Catholic Bishops said.

The Catholic Bishops have condemned the governing party for engaging in politics activities schemed at decimating democracy by attempting to kill opposition political parties by sponsoring intra-party confusion.

The Catholic Church is also concerned that there has been lack of impartiality and objectiveness in the Judiciary and have called on the Chief Justice Mumba Malila to provide effective leadership to the bench.

The Catholic Bishops have expressed concern over the recent events in Parliament which has seen Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti disregard the provisions of the Constitution and recognised expelled Matero Member of Parliament Miles Sampa’s illegal and purported Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Robert Chabinga.

“We urge the Speaker to embrace criticism, build multi-partisan consensus and accept that she is the Speaker of the National Assembly and not of a given political party or any other arm of government. It is also important for presiding officers in the National Assembly to follow the Constitution and not precedence or tradition when dealing with issues that touch on the Supreme law of the land.”

The election of different leaders in the National Assembly should be guided by the Constitution and not precedence especially in instances where precedence may be unconstitutional,” the Catholic Bishops said.

The Bishops have also condemned the UPND government’s adversity to criticism by resorting to the use of uncouth and abusive language when responding to criticism.

They said the UPND government officials had been employing intimidation, name calling and often using rogue online publications to maliciously scandalise critics and political opponents.

“We do not expect this uncalled for behaviour from leaders in a democratic society where divergent views must be accommodated. The denunciation of Archbishop Alick Banda as the Lucifer of Zambia by the UPND secretary general Batuke Imenda was not only an affront on the person of the Archbishop Banda but the entire Catholic Church and its leadership in Zambia.”

“Until now, the chief executive officer of the ruling party has not retracted his words nor apologised apart from the party and government calling for a ceasefire. The demeaning of the Archbishop by the UPND is simply a demonstration of the spirit of intolerance towards criticism,” the Catholic Bishops said.

They have also expressed worry at the gloomy economic situation in the country with the high cost of living and the lack of transparency in the country’s democratic reforms.   

What the Catholic Bishops said in their Pastoral Letter yesterday:

The democratic space is shrinking in Zambia with freedoms of expression assembly being trampled upon

Threatening and gagging of media houses

Clandestine schemes by the governing UPND to exterminate opposition political parties by sponsoring intra-party confusion in the opposition.

Clarion call on the Chief Justice Mumba Malila to provide effective leadership to the judiciary.

Condemn Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti for her biasness and total disregard of the law in her decision particularly on the election of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament

Advise President Hichilema to stick to his promises to govern the country by the rule of law and not by his whims

Advise government to address the high cost of living and review the mining tax regime

Raise concern over the heightened LGBTQ agenda which is gaining ground with a lot of clandestine support from some organisation

Condemn the denunciation of Archbishop Dr Alick Banda as the ‘Lucifer of Zambia’   

By NATION REPORTER

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has called on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other global partners to consider Zambia as a key investment destination considering her political stability and enabling business environment.

And President Hichilema has called for global peace, stating that conflicts have continued to hinder development and decried the Russia -Ukraine war as well as the now Israel and Gaza conflict.

President Hichilema says Zambia has the much-desired arable land for Agriculture, good climate for renewable energy investment, sectors which could attract foreign investment with joint ventures with Zambians.

The head of State said Zambia had warm and welcoming citizens to foster people to people joint ventures in various economic activities such as tourism and agriculture.

Speaking during the first Saudi-African summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said Zambia was rich in both natural and human resources that need global partnerships.

“As we joined fellow leaders, we called on Saudi Arabia and other global partners to look at Zambia as a key investment destination considering our enabling business environment. We also stated that our citizens, you, our fellow Zambians, look forward to joint ventures with investors.”

“During the conference, we also called for peace in the world, stating that conflicts have continued to hinder development, as is the case between Russia and Ukraine and now Isreal and Gaza. Lasting peace must be reached so that the Globe can focus on economic activities,” President Hichilema said.

President Hichilema in his address explained that instability anywhere was instability everywhere, and that conflicts had negatively affected economies worldwide.

He said Zambia had remained committed to upholding the friendships with Saudi Arabia which had cordially existed for many years and was hopeful that the bilateral relations between the two countries would begin bearing fruits for the people.

 “In order to realise these economic efforts, Africa, or indeed Zambia, looks forward to capital injection through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Land-linked Zambia is strategically located for easier trade and investment opportunities, which in turn should lead to jobs for our youth and women,” Mr Hichilema said.

By NATION REPROETR

THE Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) and Young Professional’s Network yesterday staged a protest to mount pressure on government to speed up the enactment of the Tobacco Control Bill.

The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) decided to protest following months of engaging the Ministries of Health and Justice requesting speeding up the process of enacting the tobacco control bill but nothing has been done.

The NGOs further said they decided to hold a protest as a way of pushing for the speedy enactment of the bill which has dragged for the last 15 years.

CTPD Communications Specialist, Mwaka Nyimbili, said as tobacco control advocates, they were disappointed with the continued delays in enacting the bill despite Cabinet having approved the bill in principle to have it introduced before Parliament.

She said the NGOs were also concerned that, the delay in finalising the bill had profited the tobacco industry as could be seen from the increase in tobacco products advertising, importation and selling of tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and vaping devices.  

“This development and many others are a clear indication of Zambia’s failure to comply with the guidelines and recommendations of the World Health Organiosation (WHO) framework convention on tobacco control which calls for state parties to enact the tobacco control bill and ban advertising, sponsorships which include corporate social responsibility.

Losing approximately 7,000 deaths annually to tobacco-related illnesses remains a huge burden to the country’s productive sectors.  We need to protect the present and future generations from the harmful effects of Tobacco products considering that Zambia is the primary target for the industry due to the lack of strong tobacco control policies,”she said.

Ms Nyimbili has, therefore, demanded for a clear roadmap from the Ministry of Health and Justice on when the bill be finalised and tabled it in parliament.

SYLVIA Masebo has advised Zambians to drink less alcohol and keep the greater City of Lusaka clean during the International Conference on Public Health in Africa which has attracted about 5, 000 delegates so that public order is enhanced.

The International Conference on Public Health will take place at the Kenneth Kaunda International Conference Centre from 27th November to the 30th November, 2023.

Ms Masebo, the Minister of Health says Lusaka residents, especially the youths, should not overindulge in drinking alcohol during the time when dignitaries will be in Lusaka so that there could be law and order.

“It is an opportunity for Zambians to think outside the box and think of what business they can do during this conference. Keep clean and drink less so that we can have law and order,” Ms Masebo said.

The Minister said this in response to a question from UPND Lukulu East MP Christopher Kalila who wanted to know if any special arrangements have been made for the delegates to visit Victoria Falls in Livingstone.

This was after Ms Masebo had issued a ministerial statement on the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) organized conference which is the second largest gathering for medical experts, apart from that organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). Ms Masebo said there were a lot of tourist attractions in Lusaka such as the Kenneth Kaunda Chilenje House, the Kafue River, Parliament buildings and many others. She urged the private sector to jump on the opportunity and provide services in transportation, accommodation, and many others.

Ms Masebo stated that preparations for the conference were being undertaken by a multisectoral team drawn from 10 different ministries being coordinated by Cabinet Office.

She said the conference was in the interest of the country as it would market the country’s tourism industry and improve the economy.

“Lusaka stands to enjoy a global profile, growth in local employment, immediate and short-term economic benefits and long-term investments,” she said.

And Ms Masebo said had the new dawn administration has acquired new equipment at the Cancer Diseases Hospital instead of repairing them, stating that it could have been a different story had government decided to take the route of repairing the equipment. Ms Masebo said this after issuing another ministerial statement on why cancer patients were being referred to Tanzania for treatment.

The minister said the current diagnostic and radiation treatment machines which were installed by Siemens in 2006 had become obsolete with no spare parts on the international market and rendering them non-functional.

She said about 40,000 cancer patients had so far received treatment at the hospital.

“The machines were supposed to be replaced between 2016 and 2019 but it was not implemented. Currently nearly 500 patients are waiting to receive radiotherapy and Tanzania has agreed to assist at its Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar-es- Salaam,” Ms Masebo said.

JOHANNESBURG – Zambia’s official creditors and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have “expressed reservations” about a debt restructuring deal the government has reached in principle with an international bondholder group, the finance ministry said yesterday.

Zambia and the bondholder group’s steering committee are continuing talks after the official creditor committee and the IMF voiced their doubts during discussions over the “last several days,” the ministry said in a statement, not giving any further detail on the nature of the reservations.

The discussions between the steering committee and the government are taking place under extended non-disclosure agreements, a source familiar with the process said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private.

Zambia defaulted on its external debts three years ago and finally clinched a deal with a bondholder group in late October, less than two weeks after reaching a restructuring agreement with its official creditors, which include China and members of the Paris Club of creditor nations.

The debt rework has been taking place under the G20’s Common Framework, which has been criticised for long delays and a lack of significant results.

Debtor countries are meant to agree comparable restructuring deals with official and commercial creditors under the process, which was established in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson for the bondholder steering committee declined to comment. The IMF did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Zambia’s existing three international bonds totalling $3 billion had rallied after the bondholder deal was announced. The proposal foresees issuance two new “amortising” bonds scheduled to mature in 2035 and 2053 and together worth $3.135 billion – more than the face value of the current outstanding Eurobond debt.

If Zambia’s economy performs better than expected during a 2026-2028 monitoring phase, the maturity of the 2053 bond would also be brought forward to 2035 and coupon payments increase.

Some analysts noted that bondholders would be receiving more than $500 million in amortisation for 2024-2025, plus over $100 million in annual interest payments, under the “base case” scenario, while official creditors had granted a three-year grace period and lower interest rates than bondholders. – REUTERS.

By Nation Reporter

AFTER many protracted years of broken promises by successive governments, the new dawn administration has finally delivered one of its campaign promises as it yesterday tabled the Access to Information (ATI) bill before Parliament.

Minister of Information and Media Cornelius Mweetwa presented the ATI on the floor of the House yesterday.

Mr Mweetwa said the objectives of the ATI bill number 24 of 2023 are to designate the Human Rights Commission (HRC) as an oversight institution on matters relating to access to information; provide for the right to access information and its limitations and provide for procedures for processing requests for information.

“Other objects include giving effect to the right to access information as guaranteed in the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights; and provide for matters connected with, or incidental to, the foregoing,” Mr Mweetwa said.

The bill which was read in the House for the first time has since been referred to the Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technologies.

Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti directed the committee to submit its report on the Bill on December 7, 2023.

During its sittings, the committee will receive submissions from interested groups as well as members of the public.

To access information is both a human right and a social need. It is a necessity particularly in a democracy where every citizen has a role to play in the governance of the country.

ATI promotes transparency and accountability, and it helps in the fight against corruption and generally leads to open governments and to effective democratic participation by the public.

Once enacted, the Government will have an obligation to make access to information possible as a duty-bearer, while the public is entitled to demand that their right is fulfilled.

Sensitivity to common food allergens such as cow’s milk and peanuts could be an important and previously unappreciated cause of heart disease, new research suggests—and the increased risk for cardiovascular death includes people without obvious food allergies.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School examining the cause of cardiomyopathy discovered one out of every six patients with coronary artery disease had non-ischemic or dual cardiomyopathy.